I have a question about the 700w coverage/service in the Northern, VA/DC area.

I live in Alexandria, have a Sprint (NEXTEL) i870 and it's utter GARBAGE. I'll be standing withing eyesight of the the capital building and have no signal.

First and foremost, I need a phone that will have consistent, solid service. I hear very good things about the Verizon network in my area (that you can even use it underground on the metro) but want to make sure I won't be buying a more expensive phone, on a more expensive plan only to have the same crappy service problems...

I work on King Street in Alexandria and live in Silver Spring MD and have excellent phone coverage throughout the area. That said, there are are a few dead areas where you will drop a call but they are few and far between. Generally I hjave been very pleased with Verizon coverage up and down the East Coast.

Alexandria area has a very good signal from Verizon. I haven't tested in D.C., but the Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church area is very good. Going west of there it starts to weaken a bit, but for calls it's still good. Data speed tests go down once you go west of hwy 28.